Well, we're alive, all of us are alive somehow, right? And how do we notice that we're alive? What way do we notice that we're alive? Or does aliveness, does noticing aliveness make any difference? Yeah, well, if you bring your attention to something, of course, it does make a difference. Studying, practicing. Yeah, practicing a musical instrument, practicing a sport. What you're doing is bringing attention to it. So does it, does it have some similar, could it have some similar relationship if we bring attention to our body?

[01:15]

Our feelings. Now the four foundations of mindfulness, which is the topic of this evening. And the topic of the seminar. And there's not... I'll try to... give you a general picture, a general feel for the four foundations of mindfulness this evening. But to go into the practice in much detail, we'll take at least the rest of the seminar. And for you to explore these four awakenings of mindfulness is one way to translate it.

[02:17]

Yeah, it's a practice for the rest of your life. It's one of those funny things, not really too complicated, but yet it's a resource. You can't use it up. It remains an inexhaustible resource. And it becomes, in fact, just a way to be alive. A wonderful way to be alive. A way to be alive which puts you in the category of the activities of a Buddha. Now, as a practice it has certain fruitions.

[03:34]

And as a practice and teaching it's designed to reach certain fruitions. But reaching those fruitions is not the end of the practice. Because it's also simultaneously simply and fully a way to be alive. So of course I'm speaking to you about something, you know, Totally basic. At the same time, I'm giving you something that you can do. Yeah, no big deal. Maybe in some ways it's a big deal. It's a way to be alive. But in its practice it's no big deal.

[04:54]

But if you stay with it, its effects accumulate and transform. So, I mean, the categories are a little funny. All right, you've got attention. You're born with attention. You know, as we spoke today, in the pre-day or prologue day today, We spoke primarily about attention. And I want to come back during the seminar to attention. Attention is really the most precious thing you have.

[05:57]

What you give attention to becomes your life. So what you give attention to is extremely important. Yeah, I mean we have desire. But if we only give attention to our desires, yeah, we end up to be fairly primitive guys and gals. And we can give attention to all kinds of things, art, science, and so forth. Medicine. What you give attention to can become your life.

[06:59]

I know a singer who's a fairly well-known, popular singer in the United States. She's really nice. When she was three or four, she decided to be a singer. And she never stopped giving attention to the feeling, I want to sing, and I enjoy singing, and I want to be a singer. And she never stopped with this feeling, I want to sing, singing is fun for me, I enjoy singing, to attract attention. And she became this famous and successful singer. I can't say if each of you start giving attention to singing, you're going to become a famous, successful singer. I certainly wouldn't have. But if she hadn't given attention to singing, she wouldn't have become such a singer. Okay, so we have this attention.

[08:25]

What do you choose to give attention to? Buddhism says you give attention to these four supports. Or for frames of reference. And it also can be translated, Satipatthana, as setting up mindfulness. Satipatthana can also be translated as the attention to establish. For this is a teaching carried in two forms, a long and a short form of the Satipatthana Sutra in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

[09:27]

And Satipatthana can also have the meaning of to hold in mind. To hold in mind. Or to stay near what's important. But let's look at the idea, it's describing it as setting up of mindfulness. Or let's call it maybe setting up of attention. Yeah, now, because we tend to think in entities. And, you know, an entity is like your nose. It's an activity, too, mine especially. I'm easily allergic to dust and things like that.

[10:49]

But my nose hasn't changed much. It seems to just keep getting bigger. I won't turn sideways. So we tend to think of everything as sort of like, oh, we're given a nose, we're given ears, we're given intelligence, etc. They did a study, a comparative study recently with some kids. And they told one group to... Learn to do math. And they told the other group to learn to do math because it will develop your ability to do math and develop the mind that can do math.

[11:59]

The first group, some of them thought I'm good at math, some of them thought I'm not good at math, and they made no progress. And the second group, which was told that math will develop the mind, made remarkable progress over two or three years. So that's the idea in setting up mindfulness or setting up attentions. So the four foundations of mindfulness are not only the four most fruitful targets for mindfulness. They're the most fruitful ways to develop attention and mindfulness.

[13:02]

Yeah, I said earlier today the breath is sort of like one of these exercise machines in a gym. And you bring attention to the exercise machine of the breath. And attention gets stronger and stronger. So you develop your attention and mindfulness through these four supports. Now, what are they? The body, feeling, states of mind, and contents of mind. Now, I think that's the easiest way to remember them. Sometimes it's body, mind, no, excuse me,

[14:24]

body, feelings, mind and phenomena. But then you have to know that phenomena, even in English, means objects that are perceived. So we usually in English take phenomena as objects, but it actually means perceived objects. So in that sense, phenomena means, strictly speaking, the contents of the senses. So sometimes the fourth is called dharmas. But that still just means that in fact everything is a content of mind. Or at least to the extent that we know anything, it's a content of mind. Yeah, so first of all, if you want to practice the four foundations of mindfulness, you find some way to remember them.

[16:01]

I mean, that's a good start. So, body, feelings, states of mind, contents of mind, that's fairly easy. Okay. Now, to really understand each category, why these four categories, And why these four categories are in this order. It's not really explainable exactly. It's only doable. So if you do it, you'll find out. Yeah. You. enter into why they're in this order, etc.

[17:23]

Yeah, now, now, if we say, if we describe it simply as four foundations of mindfulness, it sounds like you're, you know, partly true, that you bring the mind to the body. But that is one aspect of the practice. But you also bring the body to the mind. And you also bring the body to the body. And the trouble with thinking of it as mind You're bringing the mind to the body, you're bringing the mind to the feelings, you're bringing the mind to the state, etc. That reinforces the sense that there's a subjective agency.

[18:24]

There's an I, there's a person, there's a you and me doing this stuff. Yeah, but as I said earlier, breathing goes on even in a coma when there's no I present. And when you're asleep and there's, I don't know who's sleeping, you know, who is sleeping anyway? Sometimes a kind of different person is sleeping, at least in the dreams it looks like it. But breathing continues. Okay, so this practice should also make us know these four categories of being alive In their own terms.

[19:47]

All by themselves, sort of. Okay, so then we should say, not mindfulness of the body. But we should say, perhaps, bodyfulness of the body. And that's more accurate. Yeah. Oops. You're getting taller than me. I guess you're the bigger pillar. You and this microphone. Okay. So then we have to have feelingfulness of feelings.

[20:51]

You don't have to translate. Testing the translator. And states of mindfulness of the states of mind. Don't worry about it. She won't avoid a challenge. And then phenomenal fullness of phenomena. Okay. In other words, you can now understand, you know, what I mean. How to practice it. So, well, let's start with the body.

[22:00]

Yeah, and I don't know, you can see that we're at the limit of words. So bodyfulness of the body. The body filled with aliveness. Vitality. Alertness. clarity it's as if the body was all of one piece through and through almost vibrating with aliveness sometimes if you kind of

[23:09]

tune out your thinking. And put your hand, say, on a dog or a cat. Just, you know, the difference between putting your hand on a physical object, say, and then put your hand on a cat. And let your fingers and hands feel into the energy, organs, aliveness of the cat. and let your fingers and hands feel into the organs, into the vitality of the cat. It's an incredible object. The bodyfulness of the body is something like that.

[24:22]

Now, it's not that you walk around all day like a glowing generator. But every now and then you just stop. Waiting for your food in a restaurant seems to take forever in the hotel we're in. And you just... become only a body. There's no who in the body anymore. So that's the basic sense of the first target of attention. When the body is attention itself, the body becomes the field around it. It's good to know this kind of feeling now and then. It's a kind of education.

[25:49]

And now but so that's the overall sense of bodyfulness. But in But there are certain categories within the category of body that you bring attention to. And that these are first of all your activities. Now, all of these are practiced can be practiced in meditation and in your daily activities. I'm trying to find words for this stuff.

[27:11]

Okay, so most basic is you bring attention to your walking. And of course it's a simple activity of your walking. And there are certain concepts you can bring to walking. And one is that on each step you're arriving. So you can have some little phrase like already arrived.

[28:17]

Or arriving. Again arriving. Because in this sense you're not going anywhere. I mean sometimes you have to go somewhere. But can you walk sometimes like you're just walking on the planet for the sake of walking? For the pure joy of walking. Now, walking is one of what's called the four, as I said earlier, noble and knowable postures. And you're going to spend all of your life in these four postures.

[29:27]

Or perhaps you're going to spend all of your life in a whole bunch of positions and none of them are these four noble postures. What makes it a noble posture? How can you check up on your walking I would say that when the two words to use are nourish, nourishing and completeness. Okay, so you're walking. And as you're walking, you walk in a way that nourishes you. Like maybe we do when we're taking a walk in a park or a forest or something.

[30:29]

Yeah, now sometimes we have to walk in a way that we get somewhere. But it's also considered important to know walking for the joy of walking itself, the activity of walking. Yeah, not to look at nature. But to be nature itself wherever you are. So you walk with a feeling until you feel nourished by how you're walking. And the other word is to walk in a way that you feel complete. nothing is missing and you'll see if you feel that nothing's missing and that you feel nourished your body will begin to have a certain posture not just a position

[31:48]

Now I'm sitting up here. Before I was on something lower, but it was lower but more dangerous. I'd like to be able to see you, but I don't have to be up this high. But it's all our founders here have. I'm glad to have anything, so it's fine. But anyway, I'm sitting here. or something is sitting here. Now, if I sit sort of like this, It's really nice to talk to you about mindfulness.

[32:51]

It doesn't feel noble. I mean, it doesn't feel really very good at all. It doesn't feel nourishing or complete. But if I start Feeling nourished by my posture, I actually assume the traditional Buddha posture. I actually know something about how the Buddha felt. I mean really. And why perhaps he felt when he was sitting nourished and complete in sitting itself. He didn't feel, let's hope, that he had anything to do or any place to go.

[33:53]

Then I've often suggested to you, practice with no place to go and nothing to do. And when you practice that phrase, you're actually practicing the first foundation of mindfulness. Where the body is free in its own joyousness. Yeah, okay. So you bring attention to your activity, whatever it is. Well, we're about 10% through the first of the four foundations of mindfulness, and I've got 15 minutes left.

[34:58]

Walk the doors, Andreas. So that's one. You bring attentions to these four and you discover these four postures in which, if you live your life in these four noble postures, I guarantee you it'll add years to your life. I mean, you know, this is, you know, patent medicine I'm selling here. Patent medicine, do you understand that? It's only three dollars and, you know, it's... If your DNA means you're going to die soon, You'll feel much better dying in one of the Four Noble Parts.

[36:22]

This is the truth. It's not false. Okay. So, another target within the body of attention. Within the body of attention. Another target of attention within the category of bodyfulness. Is the breath. Now that's such an important... fulcrum and overriding such an important fulcrum of practice and essential part of practice that I'll skip it tonight.

[37:23]

You don't need to know. If you really care, you come tomorrow. No, but it's just too big. We'll have to talk about it when we have more time. And you can discover it yourself by having the intention to bring attention to the breath. Until you can do it continuously. Yes, I'll say a couple sentences. It's very easy to do. All of you can bring attention to your breath. For four or five breaths. Maybe ten. Now this is an interesting question. Why is it something so easy to do for a short time so difficult to do for a long time?

[38:39]

Well, you bring... Well, let's see, two aspects. One is... is that attention keeps going back to your thinking. And because attention goes back to your thinking because that's where you establish the continuity of identity. And as long as you establish continuity in that way, you cannot keep attention. Attention won't rest on the breath. But at some point, it actually, as I always say, like a rubber band, sort of snaps off the continuity of self.

[40:29]

By maintaining the intention to bring attention to the breath. Suddenly you're establishing continuity in the body itself, in the bodyfulness of the body. And that transforms everything. Transforms psychology, transforms everything. When you establish the continuity, moment to moment continuity in the breath, body and phenomena.

[41:35]

Okay, so that's, as I said, I don't want to go into bringing attention to the breath tonight, but I said that much. and to give you confidence that it's possible you already do something very similar from infancy or childhood you've been taught you've learned to bring attention to your bodily position and posture Yeah. Even when you sleep, you often know whether you're sleeping in your left or right or back, whatever. And if you ride a bicycle or drive a car or walk down the street, you have to bring attention to the body continuously.

[42:49]

So if that's possible, it's also possible to have attention continuously on the breath. The problem is that you establish your self-continuity in thinking. Okay, so the last thing I have time to speak about is that we bring attention to the constituents of the body. The four elements and what's called the 32 parts. Now, as a practice, I'm going to have to go into that tomorrow.

[44:09]

But let me just say about the four elements. That will fit, perhaps fit into the time we have left. The four elements are, you know, earth, water, fire and air. Now this isn't meant to be science. It's meant to be things you can productively notice. So you can notice the earth element, it means your solidity, your bones. Fire element means vitality and the way energy functions. Und das Feuerelement bedeutet vitalität und die Art und Weise wie Energie funktioniert.

[45:32]

And air means breathing and space and so on. Und Luft bedeutet Atem und Raum und so weiter. So you become, now, okay. Now, when you look at the four elements, you're looking at the whatness of you. you're not looking at the wholeness of you. And you're not looking at self, etc. You're just finding yourself stuff. And you really get to know the stuff in English you have to say of yourself. I have to say in English, the stuff of yourself. But it would be more accurate to say the stuff of the unpossessable non-self.

[46:42]

The unpossessable stuff of non-self. The body of itself, independent of mind, attention, etc. Okay, so now you can imagine getting a feeling of the solidity of you. And then you get a sense of the solidity of the world. Because one of the reasons for this practice in the Four Foundations These four elements are shared with objects and other people.

[47:51]

So that you... As I say, if you have a feeling of your solidity and you... It's not just your mind, you experience your solidity. And I notice, you know, big strong men, you know, really do have a sense of solidity, you know. That's wonderful. American football players, you know, they do something and they all go, boom, they bump into each other, boom, you know. I'm solid, you're solid. Yeah, it's kind of great though. Okay, so when you meet somebody, you feel their solidity. And when you feel your solidity, you enhance their solidity.

[49:08]

And this is also true for each of the four elements. They discovered recently that it's one of these studies. They asked a person to notice their own heartbeat. And so some people could actually indicate their heartbeat just by sitting there now. some people couldn't feel their own metabolism and then they taught people to feel their own metabolism and what they discovered is it immediately increased the empathy that people had for each other

[50:28]

And this is part of the background of getting to know the four elements. Because you begin to know other people empathetically, not in terms of their personality, but just in terms of their kind of physical presence empathetically get to feel others presence as well as your own so this practice of the bodyfulness of the body turns into being bodily aware of the physical world and bodily aware of others in a very empathetic way.

[51:53]

So that's as much as I can speak about the four foundations of mindfulness this evening. Now, of course, tomorrow and Sunday I'll try to go into it in a more specific and accessible way, I hope. And how these four interrelate. So let's sit for a moment. So attention can rest in the breath.

[53:42]

Attention can rest in the wattness of the body. Attention can rest even in the entire somatic field of this room. And attention can rest, settle on attention itself. And how do we practice this attention resting in attention itself? This is called a Dharma. And it's at the center of Buddhist practice. Is there anything any of you would like to bring up at this point?

[55:10]

Yes. Meditieren wir. And the question of why mindfulness for me means the same as the question, why are we meditating? Okay. I mean, what can I say except that mindfulness is one way of practicing. Meditation is another way of practicing. And we bring mindfulness to our meditation practice. And meditation gives us the power to bring mindfulness to our daily activity. but I don't think we do either mindfulness or meditation for any why reasons because reasons are used up very rapidly in the end we do it because we do it

[56:37]

And in the end, we just do it because we do it. Yes. The question is also very current for me at the moment, because I have been asked by some people in the Bundestag, why do you meditate? Just that question is very acute for me too, because I've been asked by several friends, why are you meditating? And I got into a lot of trouble because I kept resisting calling out reasons for it. But I don't feel entirely comfortable with that either. With no reasons. What about just saying you do it because you like it? That's what I say. I don't know, I like doing it.

[58:00]

Of course I've got a lifetime of reasons too. Of course I now have a whole life span full of reasons. And you can also say, because it changes your life for the better. Then they'll want to know what the benefits are. Then you say, you have to try it in order to find out. Yeah, it's like, what are the benefits of sleeping? Well, try not sleeping. Okay, someone else?

[59:01]

Yeah. You spoke about the continuity of identity through thinking, which is usually there unconsciously and automatically. And a lot of times I just notice that I keep being involved in thinking over and over again, but I keep going back to thinking. And in the last Zen there was an article about the Eightfold Path, the practice of the Eightfold Path.

[60:14]

And for me it was very helpful to say, to interweave thinking and breath. That turned it not into such an either-or. Well, one way to develop the continuity of mindfulness is, how to say it, is to trust the process of mindfulness. you know at this stage I'm really interested in the craft of practice I'm convinced now that this is the best way to make practice accessible

[61:17]

And the craft of practice you discover through an apprentice type relationship. Where you get a feel for something. It doesn't mean we have to always be in a sangha together. But without a Sangha, you don't get a feel for it, which you then can continue in your ordinary activity when you're not with the Sangha. And eventually you find out how every situation is a Sangha. I mentioned the idea of of the that's expressed in the two senses of we the pronoun we that are used by a part of the language of a Bantu tribe in southern Africa

[62:51]

Yeah. Bantu, B-A-N-T-U, I don't know how you pronounce it in German. Bantu. And because it parallels exactly Buddhist practice. First of all, we's are silent. There's I in you, and I can speak, and you can speak, etc. But the we of us is silent. Does that make sense? There's a we at this moment, right? But it can't speak. I can speak. Well, the sense of this is that at each moment you're establishing a we.

[64:01]

We have established a certain kind of we here tonight. We will be here for a little bit longer. Each of you heard a lecture. But we also heard a lecture. Okay. So there's the we that's established in each situation. But that's also if you're in an apotheca for a few minutes and there's a couple of clerks, there's a we that's established at that time. And you can feel that little we that's established at that moment. And you can respect it.

[65:16]

If you really get a feel for it, it's wonderful. Something, this little we is established. And that... We, this established, is something like a Buddha. So at lunchtime, I went shopping to an apotheke in various little, three or four stores. And each one I felt like bowing because I felt this presence of this we. Okay, so that's one sense of we. The other sense of we is the we of how we want the world to be.

[66:32]

We could say the vision we have of how we want to live or something. but much more palpable than that palpable you can feel in what we're doing a we that wants to become We want to be peaceful. We want to be happy. We want to be tolerant, we want to be wise. We want the world to be a certain way that supports each of us. And that we can also be palpable. So there's this we of how the world is at this moment and the we of how we want the world to be, and there's a dynamic between them.

[67:47]

That's really a description of practice. A description of the two truths. Of simultaneously knowing the conventional world. simultaneously knowing the conventional world and at the same time knowing the world as it actually exists. And as it could exist. Okay. Okay, so coming back to what you brought up. One practice of the continuity of mindfulness is to trust the process of mindfulness.

[68:51]

Which means anything that comes up becomes the occasion for mindfulness. And there's no way to interrupt mindfulness. Because the interruption becomes the next occasion for mindfulness. Okay, now I can say that. Well, I kind of love saying it. Because it makes me feel right. But to really give you a feeling for it I don't know, maybe the rest of the seminar. Because the internal way we would debate this and find the problems with it and how it's really not moral and good and so forth. all those inner debates have to be responded to.

[70:09]

If we're really going to be able to make the continuity of mindfulness through the exercise of the four foundations, Not only as a practice, but also as the way we're alive. Now, as I said earlier in the day, I'd like you to listen when you hear my voice. Hear the activity of the room. It's not just to hear the appearance of my voice. The substantiality of my voice. Don't let your attention only go to the entity-ness of the sounds. But bring attention to the fading away of my voice.

[71:26]

The continuous fading away of the sound of the room. So I said that during the seminar for some reason I just thought of it. I asked you to bring attention to the fading away of my speaking. And the fading away of the sound of the bell whenever I happen to ring it.

[72:12]

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